Carl Spackler wins stretch duel with Talk of the Nation in Opening Verse Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The $350,000 Opening Verse on Thursday at Churchill Downs could prove unusually meaningful for a listed stakes.

Carl Spackler, a 4-year-old coming back from an eight-month layoff, overcame a wide trip and won the one-mile grass contest by a head over pacesetting Talk of the Nation, a 4-year-old racing for the first time in six months.

Solid, older, more experienced turf milers, many with a far more recent race than the top two, populated the Opening Verse, but the 4-year-olds proved much the best, 2 1/4 lengths separating Talk of the Nation and third-place Smokin T, who had a neck on fourth-place Churchtown.

Carl Spackler had unfinished Churchill business. A smashing maiden winner in his second start, he came here a year ago and was favored to win the American Turf but finished eighth. Trainer Chad Brown regrouped, and Carl Spackler came back at Saratoga with convincing wins in the Grade 2 Hall of Fame and the Grade 3 Saranac, but just as the colt was fulfilling early promise, he suffered a serious case of colic that required intestinal surgery. The Opening Verse marked his first start since, and Carl Spackler came through with flying colors.

Breaking from post 7, Tyler Gaffalione hunted a spot not more than two paths off the fence going into the first turn, but Smokin T was tapped for run to come up along the rail, keeping Harlan Estate from dropping in and leaving Carl Spackler three wide with no cover.

“That was the thing: He broke alertly, but I didn’t want to be too aggressive coming off the layoff, so I tried to just put my hands down. We got caught back a little farther than I wanted to be, but going down the backside, he got into the race nicely,” Gaffalione said.

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Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard Talk of the Nation, making his first start under the care of trainer Todd Pletcher, didn’t ride aggressively out of the gate, either, but his mount showed excellent speed through the first several strides and quickly went clear.

“We weren’t sure how the race was going to unfold,” Pletcher said. “We thought there was a chance we could be on the lead, and we weren’t going to take away anything that came easily.”

The first half-mile came easily enough for Talk of the Nation, who traveled smoothly through that portion of the race in a moderate 48.11 seconds. Horses are supposed to slow down during the turning part of races, but the Opening Verse tempo quickened around the second bend. Talk of the Nation ran his quickest quarter-mile of the race, 23.49, yet Carl Spackler, still three wide without cover, was able to close ground.

At the top of the stretch, Carl Spackler appeared to be going better, but Talk of the Nation had plenty left. The 4-year-olds ran as a team to the sixteenth pole before Talk of the Nation, either from fatigue or reacting to Ortiz’s crop, switched over to his left lead. Even that slight momentum loss proved costly, as Carl Spacker put his head down and won.

“Off that kind of layoff, with that wide trip, for him to overcome it is super impressive,” said Brown, who trains Carl Spackler for e Five Racing Thoroughbreds.

Carl Spackler, the product of a mating between Lope de Vega and the More than Ready mare Zindaya, who also was trained by Brown for e Five, clocked 1:35.31 for a mile over firm going.

If all goes well, there are bigger and better things to come this summer for him and the horse he barely beat Thursday.

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